A fresh, innovative, UGC iteration comes to town—starting in Dallas. User Directed Content (or “UDC”) is a new approach that’s helping to make and tell stories in a completely different way. Is it authentic, humanized content? Absolutely!]

The Travel Vertical talked to Ryan Thompson, Founder and CEO at Odyssey Storyworks. Using the 50th Anniversary of the Frozen Margarita as the focus and Visit Dallas as the partner, a wild new concept of UGC was put through its beta paces…and brilliantly done, by all accounts.

The Inspiration

The 50th Anniversary of the Frozen Margarita. It was the brainchild of Mariano Martinez, current owner of Mariano’s Hacienda in Dallas. #DidYouKnow? The original frozen margarita machine now permanently lives in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

The Idea

Everybody wants the video, nobody wants the production spend. But what if we could use real people to help shoot video with their smartphones while providing them with real-time professional direction and shot lists? Focusing on the Frozen Margarita, that’s exactly what happened when folks fanned out to hit any and all of the Mexican restaurants/bars along “The Margarita Mile” near Mariano’s.*

*This is Dallas…there are plenty.

The Tricky Bit

“One of the things we’ve tried to do is bring UGC video forward as a storytelling vehicle,” Ryan explains. “But it’s the wild west out there. You can get something terrific or something that’s not appropriate.”

The Planning

The project requires a shot-by-shot needs list, a production facility to receive and upload videos in real time, professionals to provide live direction on angle, lighting, closeups and more to the contributors as they shoot. Skilled editors support project, working through hundreds of hours of content directly provided by consumers.

The Evergreen Aspect

A new video is released very three to four weeks over a period of nine months.

The Bonuses

The real time process replaces a typical three-week shoot. In addition to big cost savings and high shareability, Ryan suggests that, “You end up with the best of professional applied to the best of the spontaneity and enthusiasm of real people.”

We all know that meet-the-locals is a tried and true approach to destination marketing when it’s well done. On the heels of “You’re Always Welcome Here,” San Francisco is putting the accent on inclusivity and diversity.

Meet Ellis “Coach” Cato, a gripman on the signature cable cars that climb this city’s crazy hills on a ride where he says, “the magic happens.”

Born and bred in San Francisco, Cato (pictured below with his son, Ellis Cato III) is one of the nine local ambassadors who share a personal and professional story in “I Am San Francisco,” the second phase of SF Travel’s “You Are Always Welcome” campaign.

Individual stories are rolled out weekly, told in photos, video, text, and audio. And each ends by telling the viewer, “I am San Francisco and you are always welcome.” The campaign was developed in partnership with Brenton Gieser and Felix Uribe, creators of the Tender Souls Project, a photo documentary project.

The first phase of SF Travel’s digital messaging (see The Travel Vertical, Jan. 23, 2018) spread itself internationally via partnerships with Visit California and the three other California gateways: Los Angeles, San Diego and Anaheim.

“Our first phase addressed the visitor directly to assure them that, no matter where they come from or how they live, they are always welcome here. We wanted to distance ourselves from the rhetoric coming out of the capital,” said San Francisco Travel Association President and CEO Joe D’Alessandro. “Phase two is from the local’s perspective, presenting why San Francisco is the place for them and, by extension, for everyone.”

According to the National Chicken Council’s annual Chicken Wing Report (yes, that’s really a thing) Americans ate a record-breaking 1.35 billion chicken wings…and that was just during the 2018 Super Bowl Weekend.

So, what to do if you’re promoting Buffalo, New York – the city that made them (great hashtag!) a worldwide sensation?

Within one week of launching the Buffalo Wing Trail (America’s Tastiest Drive™), Patrick Kaler, President & CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara could point to a feature in Food & Wine Magazine.